Buddhist Outlook
on Daily Life

Nina van
Gorkom

The second of the
Three Gems Buddhists take their refuge in is the Dhamma. When they
take their refuge in the Dhamma they say: 'Dhammam saranam
gacchami', which means, 'I go for refuge to the Dhamma.'

What does the word dhamma mean?
Most people think that dhamma means doctrine, but the word dhamma has
many more meanings. Dhamma means everything which is real, no
matter whether it is good or bad. Dhamma comprises, for example,
seeing, sound, greed and honesty. We cannot take our refuge in
every dhamma; for instance, we cannot take our refuge in greed or hate.
We cannot even take for refuge our parents, our husband or wife, because
we are bound to be separated from them sooner or later.

Can we take our refuge in our good
deeds? The effect of a good deed is never lost, since each good
deed will bring its fruit accordingly. In the 'Samyutta Nikaya'
(Sagatha-vagga, Chapter I, part 8, par. 5) we read that a deva
asks the Buddha how a man should live so that he does not have to fear
life in another world. The Buddha answers:

Let him but rightly set both speech
and mind,
And by the body work no evil things.
If in a house well stored with goods he dwell,
Let him have faith, be gentle, share his goods
With the others, and be affable of speech.
In these four qualities if he persist,
He need not fear life in another world.

A good deed can cause
a happy rebirth such as birth the human plane of existence, or in a
heavenly plane, and thus one need not fear life in another world.
However, even a heavenly plane is not a permanent refuge. Life in a
heavenly plane may last very long, but it is not permanent. There may be
rebirth in 'woeful planes' after one's lifespan in a heavenly plane is
terminated, depending on one's accumulated good and bad deeds. Each deed
will bring its own result : a wholesome deed will bring a pleasant
result and an unwholesome deed will bring an unpleasant result. Some
deeds may produce a result in this life, other deeds may produce a
result in a later life. The accumulated unwholesome and wholesome deeds
may cause births in different planes of existence at different times. In
the 'Samyutta Nikaya' ( Sagatha-vagga, Chapter III, part
2, Childless) we read about someone who gave alms to a Pacceka Buddha.
Because of this good deed he was reborn in heaven seven times and after
that in the human plane, which is also kusala vipaka. However, he
killed his nephew because he wanted his brother's fortune. This
ill deed caused him to be reborn in hell. Thus he received the
results of wholesome deeds and of unwholesome deeds at different times.

As long as all defilements and latent
tendencies have not been eradicated, there will be rebirth in different
planes of existence. Even those who are reborn in heavenly planes
still have defilement's and latent tendencies. Birth is sorrow, no
matter on what plane; birth will be followed by death. We read in
the 'Samyutta Nikaya' (Nidana-vagga, Chapter XV, part 1,
par. 3) that the Buddha said to the monks:

Incalculable is the beginning, monks, of
this faring on. The earliest point is not revealed of the running
on, faring on, of beings cloaked in ignorance, tied to craving.

As to that, what do you think,
monks? What is greater:- the flood of tears shed by you crying and
weeping as you fare on, run on this long while, united as you have
been with the undesirable, sundered as you have been from the
desirable, or the waters in the four seas?

... For many a long day, monks,
have you experienced the death of mother, of son, of daughter, have
you experienced the ruin of kinfolk, of wealth, the calamity of
disease. Greater is the flood of tears shed by you crying and
weeping over one and all of these, as you fare on, run on this many a
long day ... than are the waters in the four seas.

Only when all defilements are eradicated
will there be no cause any more which can produce a next life, and thus
there will be no more rebirth. That means the end of all sorrow.
Nibbana is the end of rebirth because nibbana is the end of defilements. Therefore one can truly
take one's refuge in nibbana. In the suttas nibbana
is called 'the deathless'. We read in the 'Samyutta Nikaya'
(Maha-vagga, Kindred Sayings on the Way, Ignorance, par. 7) that
a monk said to the Buddha:

'"The deathless!
The deathless!" Lord, is the saying. Pray, Lord, what is
the deathless, and what the way to the deathless?'

'That which is the destruction
of greed, the destruction of hatred, the destruction of ignorance,
monk- that is called "the deathless". This same ariyan
eightfold way is the way to the deathless...'

Nibbana is the
dhamma which is the second Gem. Nibbana is a Gem of the
highest value, because there is nothing to be preferred to complete
freedom from all sorrow. Nibbana is real: even if one
cannot yet experience nibbana, it should be considered the goal
of life. If one follows the right Path one might realize nibbana
even during this life.

People may think that it is not very
desirable not to be born again. If we have not attained nibbana
we cannot imagine what nibbana is like. It does not make
much sense therefore to speculate about nibbana. At the
present moment we can experience our defilements; we can experience the
sorrow which is caused in the world by greed, hatred and ignorance.
We read in the 'Samyutta Nikaya' (Sagatha-vagga, Chapter
III, part 3, par. 3, The World) that King Pasenadi asks the Buddha:

'How many kinds of things, Lord, that
happen in the world, make for trouble, for suffering, for distress?'

The Buddha answered:

'Three things, sire, happen of that
nature. What are the three? Greed, hatred and ignorance:- these
three make for trouble, for suffering, for distress.' Who does
not want to be free from suffering caused by greed, hatred and
ignorance? Those who want to become free from all defilements
take their refuge in nibbana.

What is the Path leading to nibbana?
Nibbana cannot be attained merely by wishing to achieve it.
Can people attain nibbana by doing good deeds? Even when one performs good deeds
there can still be the idea of self. Good deeds without the right
understanding of realities cannot eradicate the belief in a self and the
other defilements. Thus they cannot lead to nibbana.
Only vipassana leads to the eradication of all defilements.

One may wonder whether it is necessary,
in addition to developing vipassana, to do other good deeds.
The answer is that, the wisdom developed in vipassana helps us to
be kind and considerate to other people in our deeds and speech.
We learn to use every opportunity to eradicate unwholesomeness.
Every time there is awareness of the nama or rupa while one is observing
precepts or doing other kinds of good deeds, one is on the Path leading
to nibbana.

The development of vipassana is a
lifetask for most of us, since we are not used to the direct experience
of the nama or rupa which appears through one of the five senses or
through the mind. We are used to thinking of realities from a past
experience or those which might present themselves in the future.
We should not expect to learn awareness in one day or even within one
year. We cannot tell how much progress is made each day, because
wisdom accumulates very gradually.

We read in the 'Samyutta Nikaya'
(Khandha-vagga, Middle Fifty, part 5, par. 101, Adze-handle) that
the Buddha said to the monks:

By knowing, monks, by seeing is, I
declare, the destruction of the asavas, not by not knowing, by not
seeing ...

Suppose, monks, in a monk who lives
neglectful of self-training there should arise this wish: 'O that my
heart were freed without grasping from the asavas.' Yet for all
that his heart is not freed from the asavas. What is the cause
of that?

It must be said that it is his neglect
of self-training. Self-training in what? In the four
applications of mindfulness ... in the ariyan Eightfold Path.

... In the monk who dwells attentive
to self-training there would not arise such a wish as this: 'O that my
heart were freed from the asavas without grasping'; and yet his heart
is freed from them. What is the cause of that?

It must be said it is his attention to
self-training ... Just as if, monks, when a carpenter or carpenter's
apprentice looks upon his adze-handle and sees thereon his thumbmark
and his finger-marks he does not thereby know: 'Thus and thus much of
my adze-handle has been worn away today, thus much yesterday, thus
much at other times.' But he knows the wearing away of it just
by its wearing away.

Even
so monks, the monk who dwells attentive to self-training has not this
knowledge: 'Thus and thus much of the asavas has been worn away today,
thus much yesterday, thus much at other times': but he knows the wearing
away of them just by their wearing away.

When wisdom is highly
developed nibbana can be realized. There are four stages of
enlightenment or realization of nibbana. Defilements are so
deeply rooted that they can only be eradicated stage by stage. In
the first stage there is no more wrong view of 'self', but there is
still attachment, aversion and ignorance. Only at the last stage
of enlightenment, the stage of the arahat, are all defilements and
latent tendencies eradicated completely. When one has attained the
stage of the arahat there will be no more rebirth.

The citta which experiences nibbana
is a 'lokuttara citta'. There are two types of citta
for each of the four stages of enlightenment, thus there are eight lokuttara
citta. Nibbana and the eight lokuttara cittas
are the 'nava lokuttara dhamma', or 'nine supramundane dhammas'.
These nava lokuttara dhammas are the second Gem, the Dhamma to
which one goes for refuge. When one takes one's refuge in the
second Gem, one considers it the goal of one's life to develop the
wisdom which can eventually eradicate all defilements.

There is a tenth dhamma included in the
second Gem: the teachings of the Buddha. The teachings can lead
people to the truth if they study them with right understanding and if
they practise according to what is taught. One should study the
whole of the Buddha's teachings. If one studies only a few suttas
one will not clearly understand what the Buddha taught. Many times
a sutta merely alludes to things which are explained in detail in other
parts of the Tipitaka. It is useful to study the commentaries to
the Tipitaka as well, because they explain the Buddha's teachings.
The teachings are our guide since the Buddha passed away.

We read in the 'Gopakamoggallan-sutta'
(Majjhima Nikaya III, Devadaha-vagga) that after the Buddha's
death a brahman asked Ananda what the cause was of the unity of the
monks. He said:

'Is there, good Ananda,
even one monk who was designated by the Lord who knew and saw,
perfected one, fully Self-Awakened One, saying: "After my passing
this one will be your support," and to whom you might have
recourse now?"

'There is not even one monk,
brahman, who was designated by the Lord who knew and saw, perfected
one, fully Self-Awakened One, saying: "After my passing this one
will be your support,' and to whom we might have recourse now.'

'But is there even one monk,
Ananda, who is agreed upon by the Order and designated by a number of
monks who are elders, saying: "After the Lord's passing this one
will be our support," and to whom you might have recourse now?'

'There is not even one monk,
brahman, who is agreed upon by the Order ... and to whom we might have
recourse now.'

'But as you are thus without a
support, good Ananda, what is the cause of your unity?'

We brahman, are not without
support; we have a support, brahman. Dhamma is the support.'

In the 'Anguttara
Nikaya' (Book of the Threes, Chapter VI, par. 60, Sangarava) we read
that the Buddha speaks to the brahman Sangarava about three kinds of
miracles: the miracle of 'superpower', such as diving into the earth or
walking on water, the miracle of thought-reading and the miracle of
teaching. The Buddha asked him which miracle appealed to him most.
Sangarava answered:

Of these miracles,
master Gotama, the miracle of superpower ... seems to me to be of the
nature of an illusion. Then again as to the miracle of
thought-reading ... this also, master Gotama, seems to me to be of the
nature of an illusion. But as to the miracle of teaching ... of
these miracles this one appeals to me as the more wonderful and
excellent.

The teachings are the
greatest miracle because they can change a person's life. Dhamma
brings right understanding, so that one is able to walk on the Path
which leads to the end of the cycle of rebirth, to nibbana.

The Buddha's teachings do not appeal to
everybody. Many people find it difficult to think in a way which
is different from the way they used to think. They do not like the
idea that there is no self. They want to control their mind even
though they can find out that this is impossible. The Buddha knew
how difficult it is for people to change their way of thinking. In
the 'Discourse to Vacchagotta on Fire' (Aggi-Vacchagotta-sutta,
Majjhima Nikaya II, Paribbajaka-vagga) we read that the Buddha said
to Vacchagotta:

You ought to be at a
loss, Vaccha, you ought to be bewildered. For, Vaccha, this
dhamma is deep, difficult to see, difficult to understand, peaceful,
excellent, beyond dialectic, subtle, intelligible to the wise; but it
is hard for you who are of another view, another allegiance, another
objective, of a different observance, and under a different teacher.

Dhamma is deep and
difficult to understand. People cannot understand Dhamma if they
still cling to their own views. If they would really study the
teachings and persevere in the practice of what is taught, they would
find out for themselves whether one can take one's refuge in the Dhamma.
When we have experienced that what the Buddha taught is reality, even if
we cannot yet experience everything he taught, we do not want to
exchange our understanding for anything else in life. If we have
the right understand of realities and if we develop wisdom, we will have
Dhamma as a support. Thus we take refuge in the Dhamma.